Christian Living

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Christians speak of being filled with the Holy Spirit. But too many Christians don’t know what that really means.

Our earthly minds imagine screwing the cap off the top of our head and waiting for God to pour His spirit in from His holy pitcher. We wait and wait with great anticipation, as if we’re standing in a really long Spirit Line. But that image is flawed. It implies that we are a container that only has a limited space to be filled. That when He’s done pouring in His spirit, we’ll carefully tighten the cap back on and go on our merry way as a contented little spirit-filled vessel. It also implies that God has a limited supply of spirit (the capacity of His holy pitcher) that must be carefully rationed to serve those he can and leaving him with nothing more to give.

So in this image, we feel the need to jockey for position in line. We somehow believe that if we do the right things or say the right things we’ll get a “move up in line ten space” pass, making our chances of getting some of that spirit stuff before it runs out a little better.

Imagine instead a mountain stream. It winds its way down the mountain cutting a path along the way. It cools and refreshes, providing life for all it touches. As you trace it upstream to find its source, you find you reach a point where it can’t be traced anymore. It seems to come right out of the rocks. It seems to come right out of the rocks. Its source is a natural spring coming from endless supply deep in the earth.

So, too, is the Holy Spirit. Streams of living water flowing from the Rock of Ages.

It starts down deep inside and springs up through our being. Its flow never ends. It is a constant source of power and nourishment to our soul. As the spirit begins to flow, it fills us until it overflows and spills out of the rock of our hardened hearts. It pours out of us into the world around us. It creates a path in our life like the stream cuts down the mountainside.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not like turning on a faucet. It’s not something we wait for God to turn on for us if we’re fortunate enough to get His attention. It’s there in all of us like the spring waiting to be released from the rock.

So how do we release it? Like the spring, we just need a little crack in the rock. We need to break our hardened hearts before God and allow His Spirit to flow.

We are so conditioned by the world to be like a rock, hard and unmoving, always in control, strong and powerful. The truth is our real power is deep inside that rock. It’s waiting for us to admit our weakness and the need for God’s Holy Spirit to work in us. When we go to God in prayer with that contrite heart and ask for His leading, an amazing thing happens. A small crack forms in the rock and that wonderful Spring of Life begins to flow.

The spring becomes a mountain stream. The stream becomes a creek. The creek becomes a river. And that river of life flows into an ocean of God’s love and power and majesty in our lives. All because we were willing to let God work in us.

So put the cap back on your head. Get out of that Spirit Line. God shows no favoritism. We can’t jockey for position to receive our portion from Him. His Spirit is freely given to all as a gift. Have you accepted the gift? Have you cracked open the rock of your heart for Him?

If you long to be filled to overflowing with the power and peace of the Holy Spirit, then go to God. Ask Him to forgive you for the hardness of your heart. Tell Him you want to overflow with His Spirit. Ask Him to use you today to be streams of living water to the world. His supply is endless, forever flowing from a place in you that only God knows.

Imagine, again, that spring bubbling up out of the rock. Feel in your heart that sense of His Spirit welling up in you as you acknowledge the source of your power and life. Thank Him daily for His provision and unfailing love. When you acknowledge the power and love of God and His work in your life, you can’t help but be filled to overflowing with His Spirit … the Springs of Life.

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